Every child has a future; we educate. Every child has a voice; we listen.

The CARE Center helps children who have experienced abused find their voice and start to heal. Most importantly, children come first. Our services provide opportunities for children to overcome their experiences and aid in the investigation and prosecution of their abuse offender. The Care Center also provides child abuse prevention education by training caregivers, and other adults in our community on Recognizing and Reporting child abuse, and we educate school aged children on personal body safety with our ROAR curriculum.

Every child has a future; we educate. Every child has a voice; we listen.

The CARE Center helps children who have experienced abused find their voice and start to heal. Most importantly, children come first. Our services provide opportunities for children to overcome their experiences and aid in the investigation and prosecution of their abuse offender. The Care Center also provides child abuse prevention education by training caregivers, and other adults in our community on Recognizing and Reporting child abuse, and we educate school aged children on personal body safety with our ROAR curriculum.

Background

The CARE Center began in 1991 as a project between the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Mental Health Association in Oklahoma County. A task force was assembled in the spring of 1991 to visit a Dallas, Texas Child Advocacy Center. The private and public sectors of Oklahoma County came together in an unprecedented approach to ensure this model was made available for abused children in our community.

The CARE Center’s multi-disciplinary team of law enforcement, forensic interviewers, child and family advocates, child welfare workers, mental health professionals, medical personnel, and assistant district attorneys comprise the team of professionals entrusted with the task of interviewing the child victim of abuse. The CARE Center provides a supportive atmosphere for children involved in an investigation of possible physical and/or sexual abuse, neglect, witness to violent crime, drug endangerment or other crimes. Each year approximately 2,000 cases of abuse are confirmed in Oklahoma County.

At The CARE Center, children are interviewed forensically and referred to mental health professionals and other services including court school. Away from institutional settings such as law enforcement agencies, social services and prosecutors' offices, The CARE Center's environment and unique approach minimizes anxiety and fear in child-victims by prioritizing their needs. The CARE Center allows law enforcement, child protective services, prosecutors, mental health and medical professionals to come together in a collaborative effort, as a multi-disciplinary task force, focusing on the best interests and needs of the child.

Currently, The CARE Center owns and operates out of five buildings, the main building houses the administrative staff, mental health professionals and child advocacy specialists, as well as the forensic interviewers; the second building is a handicap accessible facility with two additional forensic interviewing and staff rooms; a third building houses eleven (11) DHS personnel, the fourth building (Medical Annex) is used for medical examinations of the victims of child abuse and/or sexual abuse and interviews of possible perpetrators, and the fifth building houses members of the Oklahoma City Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit.

Impact

In 2017 The CARE Center served 1196 child victims and assisted an additional 3,587 siblings, family members, and caregivers through our forensic interviews, medical exams, and family advocacy programs.

There is a noble intent at the heart of The CARE Center's mission: Every child has the right to grow up in an environment free from abuse and harm. Thanks to the vision of community leaders, The CARE Center provides a comfortable, private, and child-friendly setting for victims of child-abuse who have been denied that right. Committed people, doing meaningful work, create the most important environment at a most pivotal time in the life of an abused child. Working together, these professionals insure that every abused child seen at the Center is treated with compassion, respect, and love in a safe and secure haven that encourages their recovery. That is what The CARE Center is all about: The Children.

Area Served

Area Served

Geographic Area Served

Oklahoma County

The CARE Center primarily serves Oklahoma County. Specific cases may be given to The CARE Center from surrounding counties and even statewide.

While The CARE Center primarily serves Oklahoma County through our forensic interview program, we serve the entire OKC Metro through our Education program. The CARE Center will share and facilitate our ROAR Child Abuse Prevention Education program throughout the state of Oklahoma.

To forensically interview alleged child abuse victims or collateral witnesses for investigative purposes. Forensic Interviews are conducted in child friendly, age-appropriate settings with an emphasis on the child’s comfort, and obtaining accurate information. Forensic interviews are conducted in a manner that is legally sound, of a neutral, fact finding nature, and are coordinated to avoid duplicate interviewing.

To provide mental health therapy to child victims, siblings and families. The CARE Counseling Program is a secure and safe place to begin the healing process for families and children who have experienced abuse. The therapy takes place in a child-friendly environment created to help the child and family overcome the effects of abuse and trauma. The Counseling Program’s experienced staff includes counselors and therapists who are trained to work with children and families where trauma has occurred.

There are no out of pocket costs for CARE Counseling services. Costs are covered through the Oklahoma Crime Victims Compensation Program, Medicaid or other sources of funding.

To medically examine victims of child physical or sexual abuse. When necessary, medical exams are performed by medical personnel with special training in child abuse exams at The CARE Center Medical Annex facility or at Children’s Hospital. Children are examined in a special exam room designed to continue the feeling of safety and support that children experience at The CARE Center.

Medical evaluations are provided by health care providers with pediatric experience and child abuse expertise. Specialized medical evaluations for the child-client are routinely made available on-site or through linkage agreements with other appropriate agencies or providers.

The Advocate serves the non-offending caregiver or guardian. Their role is to support the caregiver so they can be better equipped to support the needs of the child. The Advocate is closely aligned with the multidisciplinary investigative team and helps to guide the caregiver through the forensic interview process.

Crisis intervention and ongoing support services are routinely made available for children and their non-offending family members on-site and through linkage agreements with other appropriate agencies or providers.

Education regarding the dynamics of abuse, the MDT response, treatment, and access to services is routinely available for children and their non-offending family members. Information regarding the rights of a crime victim is routinely available to children and their non-offending family members and is consistent with legal, ethical, and professional standards of practice.

·ROAR Abuse Prevention Program.ROAR is a simple and free child abuse prevention program with a two-part curriculum: Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse training for adults and ROAR Kids.

oRecognizing & Reporting Child Abuse is for parents, teachers, professionals, and volunteers who work directly with children. The training provides participants with the tools to recognize the symptoms and long-term effects of child abuse, plus how to respond to suspected abuse in a way that’s safe for the child and the person reporting. The training is interactive and includes Q&A time with our experienced presenters.

oROAR Kids is The CARE Center’s prevention program for children. We often teach our children about fire safety, bullying and dealing with strangers, but not how to stay safe from abuse. ROAR Kids is specific to children ages 4-8 and is taught in a classroom or small group setting. Through the lesson, children learn the Rules of ROARing in an interactive and fun way. The primary principles that children learn are:

Remember, privates are private

Okay to say no

Always talk about secrets

Raise your voice and tell someone.

Take home materials about the lesion informs parents or caregivers and helps them continue the Rules of ROARing conversation at home.

During the current economic times, it is always a challenge to raise money to meet the needs of day-to-day operations and pursue growth and expansion. The number of children served by The CARE Center continues to increase annually, however, the staff and funding has not.

Contributions may include foundations and corporations when the breakout was not available.

Note: The negative "Other" revenue includes a loss on Disposed Assets for FY2016 and FY2015 in the amount of $107,802 and $8,241, respectively.

The financial information presented is obtained from the following sources: IRS Form 990, independent audit reports, financial statements – board approved when available, and supplemental information from the organization. We do not warrant or guarantee the timeliness, errors or inaccuracies. With respect to information regarding financial performance, nothing on this website should be interpreted as a statement or interpretation by OCCF staff.

Organizations with a GiveSmartOKC profile are responsible for updating information annually within 45 days following the end of their fiscal year.